nobles a pece; so that he brought them up in godliness and feare of God. He kepte hospitaltie for his pore neighbours, and sum almes he gave to the poor, and all thys did he of the sayd farme."

THEO. Cibber, in company with three other Bon Vivants, made an excursion. Theo. had a false set of teeth-a second a glass eye-a third a cork leg -but the fourth had nothing particular except a remarkable way of shaking his head. They travelled in a post coach-and while they were going the first stage-after each had made merry with his neighbour's infirmity-they agreed that at every baiting place they would all affect the same singularity. When they came to breakfast, they were all to squint—and, as the countrymen stood gaping round, when they first alighted, od rot it' cried one, 'how that man squints!' 'Why dom thee,' says a second, 'here be another squinting fellow!' The third was thought to be a better squinter than the other two, the fourth better than all the rest. In short, language cannot express how admirably they squinted-for they went one degree beyond the superlative. At dinner, they all appeared to have cork legs, and their stumping about made more diversion than they had done at breakfast. At tea, they were all deaf; but at supper-which was at the Ship at Dover-each man reassumed his character, the better to play his part in a farce they had concerted among them. When they were ready to go to bed, Cibber called out to the waiter-' Here, you fellow, take out my teeth.' "Teeth

sir," said the man. Ay, teeth sir. Unscrew that wire, and you'll find they'll all come out together.' After some hesitation, the man did as he was ordered. This was no sooner performed, than a second called out 'here you take out my eye. “Lord sir,” said the waiter, "your eye!” Yes, my eye. Come here you stupid dog--pull up that eye-lid, and it will come out as easy as possible.' This done, the third cried out, 'here, you rascal— take off my leg.' This he did with less reluctance, being before apprized that it was cork, and also conceived that it would be his last job. He was however mistaken. The fourth watched his opportunity, and while the poor frightened waiter was surveying, with rueful countenance, the eye, teeth, and leg, lying upon the table-cried out, in a frightful hollow voice, 6 come here sir-take off my head.' Turning round, and seeing the man's head shaking like that of a mandarine upon a chimney piece, he darted out of the room-and after tumbling headlong down stairs, he ran about the house, swearing that the gentlemen up stairs were certainly all devils. Dibdin's Musical Tour, p. 118.

LORD Bacon informs us that Whitehead, chaplain to Anne Bolen, "was of a blunt stoical nature," and that he came one day to queen Elizabeth, who happened to say to him, "I like thee better, Whitehead, because thou livest unmarried." He answered: "In troth, madam, I like you the worse for the same cause.' Bacon's Apoth.

No. 90, and Granger's Biog. Hist. v. 1, p. 215.

THE following adventure is copied from the papers of Richard, earl of Cork, and is to be found among the manuscripts of Sir James Ware.

Queen Mary having dealt severely with the protestants in England, about the latter end of her reign signed a commission to take the same course in Ireland, and for that purpose nominated Dr. Cole one of her commissioners. Cole, coming to Chester, on his journey, was waited on by the mayor, and in the magistrate's presence took out of a cloke-bag a leather box, saying to him, "here is a commission that will lash the hereticks of Ireland." The good woman of the house being a protestant and having a brother named John Edmonds of the same persuasion in Dublin, was much troubled at the Doctor's words; but watching her time, while he complimented the mayor down the stairs, she took the commission out of the bag and placed in it a pack of cards with the knave of clubs uppermost, folded in a sheet of paper. The Docter put up the box without suspicion and next day, October 7th, 1558, sailed to Ireland. Coming to the council, after a suitable speech, he presented the box to the lord deputy, Fitz Walters, who ordered it to be opened, that the secretary might read the commission; but what was the surprise of the lord deputy, the council, and Dr. Cole when the knave of clubs and pack of cards appeared. When Cole assured them he had a commission, but knew not how it was gone, the lord deputy made answer : "Let us have another commission and we will shuffle the cards in the mean while." The Doctor, in great tribulations

returned to the English court, obtained another commission, but waiting for a fair wind, Mary died, and thus God preserved the protestants of Ireland.

When Fitz Walters related the story to queen Elizabeth, she was so much delighted with it that she sent for Elizabeth Edmonds, and gave her a pension of 401. for life. Cox's Hiber. Anglic. v. 2, p. 308. & Harl. Misc. v. 5, p. 518.

A poet was noticing how sometimes the most trivial and unforeseen accident overturns an author's hopes. A thing,' said he, 'once happened to me which was enough to make a man forswear ever taking a pen in hand. I had a tragedy-Garrick performed in it-I must confess the principal incident was a little similar to Lear's abdication of the throne in favour of his daughters. Mine were two daughters; and the king-after giving them a lesson, fraught with legislative advantages that might have done honour to Solon or Lycurgusfinished his harangue by saying " and now I divide this crown between you"-Sir, a malicious scoundrel peeping over the spikes of the orchestra, and staring Garrick full in the face, cried out--" Ah, that's just half a-crown a-piece." Sir, an incessant laugh immediately prevailed, and if it had been to save your soul, another syllable could not be heard.' Dibdin's Musical Tour, p. 317.

WHEN Mary, queen of Scotland, in the full bloom of her beauty was walking in a procession at Paris, a woman forced her way through the crowd to

touch her. Upon being asked what she meant by her bold intrusion, she said, it was only to satisfy herself whether so angelic a creature were flesh and blood.

Granger's Biog. Hist. v. 1, p. 183.

IN the reign of queen Anne, when an ambassador from Peter the great, czar of Muscovy, was arrested and taken out of his coach in London, for a debt of fifty pounds which he had there contracted, instead of applying to be discharged upon his privilege, he gave bail to the action, and the next day complained to the queen. The persons who were concerned in the arrest were examined before the privy council (of which the lord chief justice Holt was at the same time sworn a member) and seventeen were committed to prison: most of whom were prosecuted by information in the court of queen's bench, at the suit of the attorney general, and at their trial before the lord chief justice were convicted of the facts by the jury, reserving the question of law, how far those facts were criminal, to be afterwards argued before the judges, which question was never determined. In the mean time, the czar resented this affront very highly, and demanded that the sheriff of Middlesex and all others concerned in the arrest should be punished with instant death. But the queen (to the amazement of that despotic court) directed her secretary to inform him, "that she could inflict no punishment upon any, the meanest, of her subjects, unless warranted by the law of the land, and therefore was persuaded that he would not insist upon impossibilities." To satisfy